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Tuesday, March 29, 2016

YA Scavenger Hunt Spring 2016!!

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It's that time of year again!! When we all go crazy for a few days, trying to win piles of awesome books! This year, I'm also doing my own personal giveaway, so make sure to read all the way to the VERY BOTTOM of the post for your chance to win a signed copy of ENDURE!! (The final book in the DEFY trilogy!)

(You can win this!! Make sure to go all the way to the bottom!)

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team!But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by Sunday April 3rd, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

Here's a little trivia for you - my all time FAVORITE number has always been 21!!!

Facsimile (Facsimile #1)by Vicki L. WeavilPublication Date: March 8, 2015Publisher: Month9Books
For a ticket to Earth, seventeen-year-old Anna-Maria “Ann” Solano is willing to jettison her birth planet, best friend, and the boy who loves her. Especially since all she’s required to do is escort Dace Keeling, a young naturalist, through the wilderness of the partially terraformed planet Eco. Ann‘s determination to escape the limitations of her small, frontier colony never falters, until Dace’s expeditions uncover three secrets. One offers riches, one shatters Ann’s perceptions of
herself, and one reveals that the humans stranded on Eco are not its only inhabitants.

Ann’s willing to sacrifice friendship and love for a new life on Earth. But when an entire species is placed in jeopardy by her actions, she must make a choice – fulfill the dream that’s always sustained her, or save the planet she’s never considered home.

**WHOA!!! That sounds so good, doesn't it??***

Here's a little bit more about Vicki:

Vicki L. Weavil is represented by Fran Black of Literary Counsel. Her Young Adult Fantasy, CROWN OF ICE – Book One in the Snow Queen Saga-- was published by Month9Books in 2014. Two companion books to CROWN OF ICE -- SCEPTER OF FIRE and ORB OF LIGHT -- will be published in fall 2016 and in 2017.
Her YA SciFi -- FACSIMILE – was published by Month9Books in March 2016. A sequel, DERIVATION, will release in 2017. A new YA Fantasy, THE DIAMOND THIMBLE, will be published by Month9Books in 2018.
She also writes adult SciFi.

I prefer “Ann.” I
am seventeen-and-a-half, almost as old as my parents when they got married. But
I have no intention of marrying so young, even if there isn’t much else to do
on Eco.

So what’s your life like?

Okay, you ready
for this? Basically, I am a nobody
on a nowhere world. My dad’s parents,
who were originally from Peru on Earth, were contracted to terraform my birth planet,
Eco. But the company that recruited, educated, and trained them went bankrupt
and stranded them on Eco. Yeah, we have enough infrastructure to scratch out a
subsistence living in our little frontier colony, but we don’t have any
spaceships, so we can’t leave.We also
can’t earn enough credits to pay any passing spacecraft to take us on as
passengers. This means we’re stuck on Eco, with no real future.All we can do is follow in our grandparents’
and parents’ footsteps and live our simple lives.

Do
you have a lifelong dream or aspiration?

Sure – to get off this dead-end planet and travel to Earth. Once I’m
there, I believe a world of opportunities will open up for me. My grandparents
claim Earth is too segregated into the “haves” and “have nots” for that to
happen, but they haven’t been back in so long, I think they’re mistaken.

Can you share one vivid memory from your childhood?

I remember when I
was little, there was one time my parents seemed really “in sync.” I’d found an
unusual stone, with a perfect circle carved through the middle.I sat nestled between my parents and
said I’d found something “alien,” but my dad – who’s an engineer – and my mom –
who’s a geologist – explained how wind, sand, and time had simply worn away the
center of the stone.It was one of the
few times I felt like we were a real family.(My parents don’t get along very well most of the time).

What’s your
favorite thing to eat?Anything different from the stuff we grow
in our hydroponic greenhouses. I am a vegetarian, though, because raising
animals for food wastes too many resources, so I never got used to eating meat.
We do have chickens (for eggs) and goats (for their milk, which we also use to
make cheese).

I guess my most prized
treat is the rare chocolate bar we acquire by bartering our fresh produce with
passing space traders.

Do you have any siblings?

No, but I have a
best friend. Her name is Emie, and we’re probably closer than most sisters,
actually. She’s really, really, smart – a genius at working with computers and
anything digital. She’s apprenticed to our communication and data expert.

What’s your town or city like?

There isn’t anything
remotely like a city or town on Eco – just our settlement. Our living quarters
were built from the spacecraft used to transport my grandparents and the other
terraformers to Eco. (Which is why we don’t have any space ships now). Our
settlement is basically ramshackle metal-siding buildings surrounded by a
simple fence. We have living quarters – which are small, so extended families
live together – a kitchen and group dining space, a meeting/recreation hall,
two hydroponic greenhouses, some workshops, garage space for our big machinery
(mostly broken now), a dairy, a building that houses a couple of labs and our
com room, and some domes that cover our animal pens. That’s about it. We do
have windmills that help provide electricity, along with our solar collectors.
I mean, we can get along, but we are basically living in a frontier settlement.
No luxuries, and not that much to do, outside of daily chores.

Do you go to school or do you have a job?

Both. I am
apprenticed to my grandmother, who’s a botanist.She manages our hydroponic greenhouses. (We
really depend on the produce grown in the greenhouses because you can’t grow
anything in Eco’s thin soil). I also take classes over the ‘sphere and study any
holographic discs we can get in trade from passing spacers.

What do you do for fun?

Mostly the younger
people play immersive holographic videogames. The entire colony watches a lot
of movies, too, because my other grandmother (mom’s mom, who died before I was
born) brought along digital copies of every film she could lay her hands on –
even really old, 2D stuff.

I also like to
ride my solar-powered electric bike out across Eco’s rather barren landscape.
Sometimes I stop and search for these purple crystals that I trade to spacers
for stuff.The crystals look like
amethysts. They aren’t, but don’t tell the spacers that!

Do you have a boyfriend?

Well, uhm… Yes,
sort of.There aren’t very many people
my age on Eco, so I don’t have many choices.There’s Raiden Lin, of course. We hang out sometimes, and we kiss, but …
I want more options, so I’m going to wait until I can get to Earth to commit to
someone. (Even though Raid is really, really, hot, and smart, and his kisses
can make me swoon, I need to meet other people before I dive into anything too
serious!)

Okay, Ann. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us,
and good luck to you!

Thank you. Nice to
talk to someone different. Now I gotta run. I hear a trading ship will be
landing on Eco soon.I hope this ship – the
Augusta Ada – will offer me a chance to trade my purple crystals for something
new and fun.I mean, you can always hope
for a change, right?!

Thanks for participating in the YASH! It's always so fun and I always end up learning about new books! I want to win a signed copy of Endure because I have signed copies of Defy and Ignite! I would love to complete the set!

I love your series. I own them all but I would love to have a signed copy since I have not met you yet. Then I can donate my unsigned copy to my local library for more people to fall in love with the series.

I would love to win Endure because apart from the whole series having ridiculously pretty covers, the books sound fantastic! I've heard good thing after good thing about them and I'm eager to get started reading them. What better a way to do so then by completing my collection and having them all at hand to marathon? Thanks for hosting a giveaway!

I would love to win a copy of Endure because I actually won a copy of Defy in another contest sponsored by a YA blog, and it was the first time I'd ever won a book from a contest. I was excited to read it then, and am excited to see what happens in the conclusion!!

I hate cliff hangers so I've been saving reading Defy and Ignite until Endure came out. I love just binging on an entire series instead of having to wait for the next book to come out. If I got Endure, my collection would be complete and I can take some time to finally immerse myself in the entire story and finish feeling everything is happily resolved.

At my school, the IB students have a mandatory personal project that we must complete in order to continue with IB. Luckily, we can do whatever we want for this project. I'm a reader and I love books, and I decided that I'm going use my book review blog for this.

SO, now for the reason - Emerge seems like a beautiful book, and I'd love to get a chance to use it for my blog. Yay!

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About Me

I am the author of the DEFY trilogy (DEFY, IGNITE, and ENDURE) and DARK BREAKS THE DAWN (coming May 30th)! I am represented by Josh Adams of Adams Literary. I have an amazing husband, some incredibly cute (and crazy) kids, one maltese, and a sugar addiction. Find me on www.SaraBLarson.com !

IGNITE (DEFY #2)

"Alexa was fierce in Defy (2013), and in this second installment, she remains an interesting, multilayered

character, a valiant fighter with heart. Series fans will be satisfied." - Booklist praise for IGNITE

"...a[n]...engaging read and one that fans of the series

will definitely be seeking." - VOYA praise for IGNITE

PW calls DEFY a "riveting fantasy" with "emotional sincerity and psychological depth" and a "cinematic finale"!

"Larson's debut is full of passion and adventure, urging readers to cheer and weep simultaneously at Alexa's astounding courage. Those interested in strong female characters, such as Katniss from Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games, will find new affinity in Defy." - School Library Journal

“A wonderful tale of adventure, romance, and embracing your true self. Alexa is a heroine readers will love to follow!” – Marie Lu, bestselling author of the LEGEND series

"DEFY by Sara Larson is an amazing, fantastic book. It has everything you'd want: intrigue, awesomely real characters, suspense, and a captivating plot. All in a world that comes to life in your mind. Highly recommended." – James Dashner, bestselling author of THE MAZE RUNNER

"Set in a medieval world full of danger, magic and romance, Larson's exciting tale will appeal to fans of high fantasy. The plot is fast-paced and the story full of unexpected twists and turns. [DEFY] ...will leave readers craving for more." - Children's Literature.